Positive Education

At Newcastle Grammar School we have deliberately chosen Positive Education. Our approach places wellbeing firmly at the heart of everything we do and brings together best practice teaching and learning with learning the skills and mindsets to flourish. Central to the lens through which we see the Positive Education experience are strengths. The language of strengths permeates our entire school community and we know that Character Strengths are the Pathway to PERMA.

Positive Education at Newcastle Grammar School offers a range of empirically validated approaches from the field of positive psychology which are delivered through interventions, programs and practices to promote the wellbeing of our students, staff and wider community. As a Visible Wellbeing Partner School, we appreciate the importance of tuning in to wellbeing and making something that is invisible seen, heard and felt. In addition to promoting the positive psychology principles of growth mindset, gratitude, resilience, grit, deliberate practice, flow and mindfulness we also believe in the importance of wellbeing literacy as a general capability.

Together, we can all RISE to be the best we can be.

Visible Wellbeing

Visible Wellbeing is a whole school evidence-based approach to developing and sustaining student, staff and community wellbeing. Under the guidance of Professor Lea Waters PhD, University of Melbourne, the Visible Wellbeing approach offers a language, lens and framework for flourishing.

Artist’s Statement: JASMIN ZHOU (Year 12 2019)

At Newcastle Grammar School we have decided to use the motif of a kaleidoscope to symbolise our Visible Wellbeing journey. The kaleidoscope captures the visible, audible, and tangible message of SEE, HEAR, FEEL by representing wellbeing as a myriad of delicately arranged coloured surfaces from which light can bounce and an infinity of patterns is created.

Part of the journey of Visible Wellbeing is to recognise the diversity of experiences, visions and colours that each person offers and to also embrace our own; and like the turns that we take in life, each twist of the kaleidoscope produces an image that is powerful, beautiful and unique.

The kaleidoscope offers a wellbeing lens that takes something that exists inside of us that can’t be seen and brilliantly radiates it to the world. The aim is to encourage everyone to tune in to their own wellbeing and make it seen, heard and felt while also engaging in a shared human experience and appreciating the wellbeing of others.

It has been my honour to harness my strengths in the conceptualisation of Visible Wellbeing through the creative process for Newcastle Grammar School and I wish everyone well in their own journeys towards making wellbeing visible.

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Character Strengths

We all have strengths.

Strengths are the positive qualities and attributes that we find energising, choose often and perform well. Strengths research asks the questions;

What is right with you?

Who are you at your best?

What would change if you brought your best self to each situation?

Knowing our signature strengths and skillfully applying them can have a significant positive impact on our lives. Research indicates that using our signature strengths can help us buffer against, manage and overcome challenges, improve our relationships and enhance our wellbeing.

Through the Positive Education programme at Newcastle Grammar School, all students will be given the opportunity to discover their signature strengths from the 24 character strengths through the Values in Action (VIA) Institute.

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2021 School Captains

We are enthusiastic to be your School Captains for the coming year and we are thrilled to take on such a prestigious responsibility. We’re part of such a wonderfully keen and capable team, and we are all optimistic about the year ahead.

In 2021, our Country, State and School are emerging from the previous year of challenges to a reshaped normalcy. Through the experience of social isolation, we learned important lessons about the value of our connection to one another. We utilised our platform on Schoolbox to find connection and reach out to each other, guided by the leadership of the previous Year 12 cohort. Based on these principles and the lessons learned, we are thrilled to be launching a platform of our own, to forge connections and share in each other's truths. We are passionate about giving each student a chance to divulge what is important to them. Our ‘What Matters’ series, in will share conversations and ideas.

We are also looking forward to being a part of is myNGS Passport. We can see its potential to deliver a wide range of experiences to all students at the School. Many of the highlights of our time here at NGS have had to do with the opportunities we’ve been presented. This will offer the next generation something new.

At NGS we are part of an environment which inspires students to thrive. Each day we experience fellowship and connectedness and this is what makes such a rewarding place. We recognise the benefits of creating a strong support network and strive to improve upon the framework set by the Prefects in the past.

We sincerely wish all members of the NGS community a fantastic year. We are excited to discover what it has in store.

Zoë Roberts Thomson and James Fry

School Captains